Wednesday, 27 August 2014

New naval base for nuclear subs, aircraft carrier, coming up near Visakhapatnam

By Ajai
Shukla

Visakhapatnam

Business Standard, 27th Aug 14

The navy
has lifted the shroud of secrecy over a major new sea base being built on India’s
eastern coast, which will be home to the first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS
Vikrant, and an armada of warships under the Eastern Naval Command.

The new
base, on the Bay of Bengal, will also house India’s nuclear ballistic missile
submarine (SSBN) force. Current plans involve building six SSBNs, to form the
underwater leg of the country’s nuclear triad. The first, INS Arihant, will
soon be operational; the second and the third are currently being built.

For years,
the ministry of defence (MoD) has refused to even acknowledge the existence of
the secret new base, which will come up around the coastal hamlet of Rambilli,
50 kilometres south-west of Visakhapatnam. The plan is code named “Project
Varsha”.

Divulging
that the new base will house conventional as well as nuclear warships, Vice
Admiral Satish Soni, the head of Eastern Naval Command, told Business Standard,
“We don’t talk about it much for obvious reasons. There are plans for a new base,
and we hope to see one in a matter of 7-8 years.”

India’s
eastern seaboard on the Bay of Bengal, with deep water and harbours with over
10 metres depth of water, is far better suited as a nuclear submarine and aircraft
carrier base than the western seaboard, where the shallower Arabian Sea is
barely 4 metres deep along the coast.

Like China’s
massive nuclear submarine base at Hainan Island, the depth of water at Rambilli
will allow submarines to enter and leave the base without being detected by
satellites. This secrecy is crucial for SSBNs, which must remain undetected
when they leave for months-long patrols, carrying nuclear tipped ballistic
missiles.

China’s
rapid naval build-up, and its belligerent handling of maritime disputes with
smaller neighbours in the South China Sea and East China Sea, has caused New
Delhi to focus keenly on enhancing the operational posture of the eastern
fleet, which must counter any threat from China.

The same
concerns had, in 2001, led to the creation of the tri-service Andaman &
Nicobar Command (ANC), 1,225 kilometres from Visakhapatnam in the Bay of Bengal.
The ANC dominates the Malacca Strait, and the shipping routes between West Asia
and South-East Asia.

Visakhapatnam
is home to the eastern fleet, India’s biggest, with 50 warships. The new base at
Rambilli will decongest Visakhapatnam --- also a major commercial hub --- and
provide a secure base that is removed from population centres.

Western
Naval Command already has such a base, INS Kadamba, built in 2005 to decongest
Mumbai. Located at Karwar, near Goa, it is home to the aircraft carrier, INS
Vikramaditya, and much of the western fleet. Being built in several phases,
that project is code named “Project Seabird”.

With INS
Vikrant harboured in Rambilli after the aircraft carrier is commissioned in
2018, the naval air base at Visakhapatnam --- INS Dega --- is being expanded to
house the Vikrant’s MiG-29K and Tejas fighters and its helicopters, when the
aircraft carrier is not at sea.

Soni says the
government has approved Rs 200 crore for infrastructure at INS Dega for the
Vikrant’s MiG-29K fighters; and another Rs 200 crore for the navy’s Hawk trainers
that will be based at Visakhapatnam.

Visakhapatnam’s
importance as a naval aviation centre has been boosted by the recent
identification of a secondary airfield, to which aircraft can be diverted in
case of emergencies or bad weather at Visakhapatnam. Soni says land acquisition
has begun, and the state government has provided an NOC to the navy.

“We are
looking at Bobilli, a disused, World War II airfield about 45 nautical miles
from here (Visakhapatnam). We will have fighters flying from here so we will
need an alternative base, to which flights can be diverted. Bobilli is north
west of Visakhapatnam towards Vijaywada”, said Soni.

commercial shipyards have come up on both the west and east coast .The navys naked west flank and all assets ARE holed up in mumbaiand the new base karwar are insuffucient to disperse and base the subs and ships . New staging bases at okha , pipavafor ships aircraft and subs , Diu for interservice navy airforce army ocoast guard , airfield for aircraft , asw choppers , coastguard vessals , airforce fighters , army surface and air missile batteries , vapi for convential subs , Dabholand Ratnagiri for ssks ,ssns ssbns in mountian dug tunnels and missile silos , Mangalore for ships and vilazim for subs and ships ARE REQUIRED, Similarly on the east coast ships and subs near l$T shipyard , and other new commercial bases to share the ship repair units .